thousands of e-mails to the second woman. this isn't just a love triangle, folks, it's a love pentagon. >> unbelievable. jimmy kimmel said it could inspire a new tv show called "cia smackdown." you got to shake your head, don. can't make it up. >> thank you, suzanne. great weekend to you. i'm don lemon. brooke is off today. developing right now, a disturbing report on iran and concerns about its nuclear program under ground. it is bound to set off alarm bells in the west. plus, two people are missing after an oil platform explodes in the gulf of mexico, but first the bloody fight we're going to get to between israel and gaza. hamas aims rockets at jerusalem and they miss. but the fact hamas is going after what israel considers its capital city shows how much pressure is building in the middle east right now. i want you to listen to this.

so an i reporter captured air raid sirens going off in jerusalem. hamas, the group that controls gaza, landed south of jerusalem. more rockets aimed for tel aviv ended up in the water. no reports of damage in either case, though. but officials say 27 palestinians have died since wednesday from israel's strike in gaza. this is israeli defense forces video showing what they say, look at this, they say this is munition sites. israel points to the stockpiles as more proof hamas is trying escalate tension. hamas says israel is to blame. people live in fear of how close the attacks will come. listen to one man in gaza just last night. >> i fear my life is at risk by merely being out the streets.

i literally felt i could lose my life at any moment. target i targeting israeli civilians, i might as well -- >> he was able to reconnect with us moments later. other nations are scrambling to try to get israel and hamas to take a step back. egypt's prime minister and president arrived in gaza today. a planned cease-fire for the visit never materialized while president mohamed morsi made it clear whose side egypt is on. >> translator: we support the people of gaza. we are with them in their trenches. what hurts them hurts us. and the blood that flows from their children is our blood too. >> so most of the west, including the united states sides with israel. a nation now on the brink of staging a ground assault. israel's deputy foreign minister

told cnn this morning that would trigger that move. >> if we will see in the next 24, 36 hours more rockets, launched at us, i think that would be the trigger. >> ben wedeman joins me now from the israel/gaza border. what are you seeing and hearing there now? >> reporter: it is a bit surreal here. we're in the city's marina right next to the yoko sushi restaurant. as you can see, there are people out, having dinner. seemingly to be living a normal life. but the owner of this restaurant did tell us just an hour ago they heard the air raid sirens and in fact just a moment ago we saw in this screen with israeli television that in bere sheva air raid sirens did go off. all signeds indicate israel is preparing for a ground incursion. some of the roads around gaza on

the israeli side have been closed to civilian traffic. the israeli security cabinet apparently is authorized the government to call up as many as 75,000 reservists, possibly to participate in this potential, possible ground incursion into gaza. there have been a lot of armor -- lots of armor, lots of tanks moved down to that area. it is very similar to what we saw, don, just before israel made a ground incursion into gaza back in 2008, 2009. >> ben, talk to me about the significance of this. we have been reporting that hamas rockets nearly hit jerusalem. the significance of that and has hamas ever aimed for jerusalem before? >> reporter: no, that was the first time this evening that that happened. and that's why really in jerusalem it came as so much of a shock, but i can tell you the people around here are much more accustomed to hearing air raid sirens, hearing reports of rockets falling nearby, but in

terms of significance, the fact that as of yesterday tel aviv became within the range and that's israel's largest city, within range of the rockets from gaza and now jerusalem really is a game changer. it is going to really put pressure on the government of prime minister benjamin netanyahu to take some sort of decisive action against gaza. as we saw in the last gaza war, after all the bloodshed, all the fighting that took place, it really didn't change things. and we heard the israeli defense minister ehud barak saying they have got to put an end to these rockets being fired out of gaza once and for all. they may indeed be preparing for an even bigger operation than what we saw four years ago. >> i don't know if you've seen this but i want to warn our viewers of this photograph. there it is right there. it is of a bbc staffer holding his baby son, killed in gaza, and we know of 27 palestinians who have died with reports of 270 injured, ben.

one of the casualties for israel. >> reporter: so far three israelis were killed yesterday when a rocket hit an apartment building. and there have been other wounded, but certainly compared to what we have seen in gaza, relatively small, but given the political dynamics of israel, even a low fatality count does put a lot of pressure on the government to take more action. >> ben wedeman reporting. ben, thank you very much for that. rockets are flying back and forth between gaza and israel and the death toll is rising. hamas rockets reaching farther into israel than they ever have before. you heard our ben wedeman report that today one landed near jerusalem for the first time since 1970. i want to bring in james zogby, the president of the arab-american institute. he's in abu dhabi.

thank you for your time. what can help right now, sir, for both sides to just stop the violence or is that just wishful thinking? >> well, it is wishful thinking, but one hopes and one wishes that the united states for its part and turkey and egypt and those who have some ability to restrain what's going on in gaza can in fact, succeed in pulling this back. ben is absolutely right. we heard this song before. people are singing off the same page and the end of the day, nothing happens other than hundreds, maybe a thousand or more will die, many more wounded and fear and anger all around. and at the end of the day, we're left with a political issue that must be resolved. and just people more entrenched in their pain and their fear than they were before it started.

it only complicates the effort to ultimately make peace. >> yeah. the israeli ambassador we heard from -- we heard from him today. i want you to listen and we'll talk about it. >> hamas are the enemies of peace. not just the enemies of israel. the enemies of peace, regional stability in the region, and to peace, both internally on the palestinian side and between palestinians and israel. so we are targeting that military infrastructure so we will be able to sit down with good people on the other side, for real constructive talks. >> that's his side. what needs to happen long-term here, mr. zogby? >> well, look, i am no fan of hamas, never have been and never will be. their tactics are deplorable. and their politics, i don't agree with. but at the end of the day, people have to talk. and hamas is going to have to be a party to the conversation whether we like it or not. so the ambassador is just dead

wrong. and those on hamas side who take a hard line and an aggressive posture and those who are hurling missiles at israel, those on the israeli side who are planning an incursion and 600 aerial strikes that israel launched in gaza yesterday, are all enemies of peace. the fact is this is not going to be solved militarily. there is no victor vanquished scenario. i've been doing this work, don, for four decades now, dealing with this issue. and i don't know how many times i've heard israelis or palestinians say this is going to put an end to it. there is no violence that is going to end the occupation, and there is no violence that is going to end the resistance to the occupation. which is why we really need to get the conversation going again, and it's going to take a tough hand on the part of the united states and on the part of the egyptians and the turks who, i think, have some leverage with hamas, to make it clear.

make it clear to the israelis and to the people in gaza, this just can't go on because at the end of the day, no one is going to win. the siege of gaza has gone on for too long. gaza was a nightmare. it was a nightmare before the siege and campaign began. it has been living off of black, you know, a black market through tunnels and the fact is that this is not going anywhere other than creating more despair and anger. so, look -- >> and death. >> israel can do what it does. it has the ability to do it. they cannot delude themselves into thinking that this time we're going to put an end to it and we'll be able to talk peace with the only people who want to talk peace because at the same time they're doing that, they're doing everything they possibly can to undercut the palestinian authority on the west bank and deprive them of winning any victories whatsoever. they won't let them go to the u.n. and declare statehood. they won't let them govern their own territory in the west bank. the wall that has been

constructed and the roadblocks and checkpoints that exist in the settlements that are expand having undercut the legitimacy of that leadership. so what we have got is a situation that only gets worse and that's why the united states has to take a tougher stand. that's why we have to have those who can talk to the folks in hamas and gaza take a tougher position and ultimately bring an end to this. >> that's going to be the last word on that, mr. zogby. >> we're going to go down that road, open the door to hell, we saw it play out before in 2008 and '06 and many times before and ben wedeman is right, all we get is a lot of dead people and we start right back where we were with no peace and people still needing to talk to each other. >> james zogby, president of the arab-american institute. thank you for your time, sir. back to the united states. we have a story developing now. two people now, two people are missing and two people are believed to be dead. that's after an oil platform exploded in the gulf of mexico. a platform is about 24 miles off

the coast of grand isle, louisiana, not a drilling facility. 11 people sent to the hospital here as crews launch a search and rescue mission. coast guard says 28 gallons of fuel have spilled, creating an oil sheen about half a mile long. and we're told it is not considered a major environmental threat at this point. updates as we get them here on cnn. up next, david petraeus on the hot seat, the former cia director telling congress what he knew about the attack in benghazi and we'll talk about that with someone who was inside that hearing. plus, breaking today, a nuclear watchdog says it is very concerned about iran and what the islamic republic is doing underground. the west isn't going to like this news. do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. so why exactly should that be of any interest to you?

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and the next great idea could be yours. (child screaming underwater)... (underwater noises). well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and my daughter loves the santa. oh, ah sir. that is a customer. let's not tell mom. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. let's try to get to the bottom of what happened, if anyone was learned at the hearings. we're learning about what david petraeus knew about the attacks

on benghazi in libya. both hearings were closed to the public and befitting a man who ran the nation's spy agency, petraeus alluded reporters as he entered the capital, didn't get any pictures of him, but cameras caught his motorcade leaving capitol hill after he finished testifying. let's talk with republican congressman joe peck of nevada, a member of the house intelligence committee. representative peck, thank you. what did general petraeus tell your committee this morning? >> well, he went over the points that he brought out in the hearing when he came before us september 14th. and talked to us about how that intelligence had evolved over time and where they are today with the understanding of what happened in benghazi and really the only thing that significantly changed was the fact we now know there was no spontaneous protest taking place outside of the embassy facility, the compound prior to the attack on the embassy. and we also have a better understanding of what groups might have been involved in

perpetrating that deadly attack. >> do we know for sure that there was no spontaneous or are you just gath thaerg frering th looking at the video or from the testimony? >> no, we have been told that the intelligence community has now assessed that there was no spontaneous attack outside of the embassy prior to the attack on the facility. >> does this change your mind about anything that you -- about any of this, that you didn't know before david petraeus testified. does it change your mind as to the white house's assessment, susan rice's assessment or your own assessment? >> i think what we first learned in the few hours and days immediately after the attack to today, the intelligence has evolved. certainly there was taking time to gather the information, to analyze it and put forward an assessment. what we do know is that when director petraeus came before us on the 14th, the information that he gave us was not the

information that was put out by ambassador rice or by the administration. so it begs the question why wasn't a more complete picture given to the american public more quickly than it was? >> okay. you said that the intelligence has evolved, which means just from a layman's term, you would think that as they gathered information, they learned more than things would change. just from people sitting at home and not for partisans or for people who are on capitol hill, are you actually talk ing to each other about -- getting to the bottom of this or is everyone just talking at each other because i would imagine no administration wants anyone to die on their watch. >> certainly we are talking to each other and we're talking to those who are in the best position to provide the information necessary, to exercise the duty of the house intelligence committee which is to provide oversight of the intelligence community and to hold the administration regardless of who the sitting president is accountable for their actions as a state department facility was under attack and we lost four american

public servants. that is the process that we have undertaken. we, yesterday, met with a panel of intell jens experts. today we had the opportunity to talk to former director petraeus about how his understanding changed over time. and we need to continue to look into the issue and get the answers for the american public and most importantly for the families of the four who were lost. >> this is satisfying to you in that you're talking and learning new information. my question -- the bigger question is if susan rice is nominated to take hillary clinton's place, are you going to fight that? >> well, i'm a member of the house, not a member of the senate, so it is up to the senate to hold confirmation hearings on cabinet level -- i leave that to the senate to determine whether or not she's qualified to hold the position of secretary of state. >> congressman joe heck, thank you for your time. dana bash now, she staked out both hearings this morning.

dana, i saw you raeporting this morning, we did not get pictures of him, but got the motorcade, and lots going on the hill this morning. what are democrats telling you about petraeus' testimony? >> reporter: very interesting. many came out to try to give an explanation for why there is a difference or a discrepancy as congressman heck just said what general petraeus said on september 14th, discrepancy between that and what susan rice said publicly two days later. the answer that several are giving us is because she was talking from unclassified talking points. and what they learned behind closed doors was classified. and one of the things said behind closed doors she didn't talk about was that -- the idea that there likely could be an extremist element involved in this, meaning a terrorist group involved in this. the reason we're told also that that wasn't in the unclassified

talking points, susan rice used, is because they're worried it was so early, they're worried about exposing the sources and methods of how they got that information about the terrorist or extremist group, which we now believe was ansar al sharia, what intelligence officials now believe. that's how democrats have explained it and they explained it from the chairwoman of the intelligence committee, dianne feinstein, to many others, trying to really clarify that. and aggressively come to susan rice's defense in a way we haven't heard from democrats, at least those on the intelligence committee until today. >> dana bash, thank you very much. we appreciate it. we're just 46 days away from reaching the dreaded fiscal cliff that i'm sure dana will be reporting on as well. even if a deal is reached, will it take a recession to get our economy back on track? that's what one leading economist says. alan greenspan talks to our ali velshi. that's next. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world.

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it is game on for fiscal cliff talks. president obama and

congressional leaders met today to kick start face to face negotiations. they have 46 days to cut a deal, otherwise massive tax hikes and spending cuts kick in january 1st. >> i think we're all aware we have some urgent business to do. we have to make sure taxes don't go up on middle class families, that our economy remains strong, that we're creating jobs, and that's an agenda that democrats and republicans and independents, people all across the country share. so our challenge is to make sure that, you know, we're able to cooperate together, work together, find some common ground, make some tough compromises, build some consensus, to do the people's business. >> chief business correspondent ali velshi joins me now live from new york. i think of thelma and louise and imagine congress in the front seat driving us off.

what does he say about how to get ready for this huge economic pain? did he mention the r word, recession? >> well, he did. this is interesting because a lot of people think, think back to thelma and louise, go over the cliff and it is all downhill from there. what a lot of people think is that if the fiscal cliff comes to pass, you'll increase taxes on people, cut spending and no one will have money to spend and it will cause a recession, a double dip, the second recession. i asked alan greenspan about it. he said actually -- listen very carefully, alan greenspan doesn't talk like you and i do, he talks in a complicated fashion. he told me it could cause a recession, but it may not be as bad as you think. listen. >> imf studies show definitively if you cut spending in a situation like this, it does lower the gdp, but nowhere near the amount that an increase in taxes lowers the rate of an

increase, gdp. so that i think if we have to have a moderate recession to solve this huge fiscal problem that is in front of us, i think that is a very small price to pay because we're not going to get out of this thing without paying. there is a presumption we have a whole schedule of economic policies which can just basically solve the problems to normal situations. it is not. >> so that's the point. he says don't be so worried about doing the right thing as he sees it, because of a recession, we might have to have a recession, but in the end, the long run, things will be okay. this is not a widely held view or widely shared view but it is alan greenspan, he was a fed chair for 18 years under three presidents. >> he knows a lot about a lot about a lot. is he hopeful at loeast hopeful about plans to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> he's looking at it carefully.

he understands things are very divided in washington. he hopes they can. again, i'll let you hear in your own words this is what he told me. >> there is a budget compromise out there for raising revenue and at the same time curbing spending. simpson bowles. you say it is a good starting point but not enough. most elected officials won't go as dpfar as simpson bowles woul because it would hurt, there would be pain. what do you suggest america can do to get the strong economic growth and the high levels of unemployment? what sort of pain should our politicians be saying we should be ready to take? do we eliminate the mortgage interest deduction, do we eliminate things people are used to but need to give up all of the above. all of the above. i think the very -- the genius of simpson bowles is a political issue, namely that you can take this trillion dollars of

so-called tax expenditures, and the republicans can look at cutting them as a reduction in subsidies, which in large part they are. the democrats can look at them as a way to increase taxes on upper income groups. now, it strikes me that's the same piece of legislation, so we can get very large chunks of -- wi we can get very lank chunks of effective spending out of the system without any material change in marginal tax rates. but is it going to be easy? no. all of those tax subsidies or all of those tax benefits are there for reasons. there are constituencies beneath all of them and the general presumption that this is going to be done without any real

disruption to the economy is nonsense. >> so that's it, don. alan greenspan saying it is going to be painful one way or the oh but we should engage in it and get it over with now and in a few years we can feel better about the whole thing. i think it is important to understand, again it not a widely held view but we need everybody's views now because sometimes in next 45 days the decision has to be made. >> oh, yeah. one on saturday, eastern p.m., 3:00 p.m. eastern on sunday, your money, more of that interview. thank you, ali. appreciate it. >> good to see you, don. >> good to see you as well. air raid sirens, rocket attacks and an attempted cease-fire. situation in the middle east seems to be deteriorating by the hour. and the prime minister of egypt may be the last hope for a truce between israel and hamas militants.

countries across the middle east are closely watching egypt for its leadership on this escalation of violence between israelis and palestinians.

egypt's prime minister arrived in gaza today as dozens of israeli rockets rained down on gaza city. he toured a hospital as a cease-fire failed. soon after the prime minister touched down in gaza, egypt's president muhammad morsi appe appeared on state tv. >> translator: we support the people of gaza. we are with them in their trenches. what hurts them hurts us. and the blood that flows from their children is our blood too. >> now to cairo and reza sayah, he joins me now. egypt condemns the israeli attacks, but so far says it will not break a long-standing agreement with israel. so what kind of bind is egyptian president morsi in over this conflict? >> reporter: well, he certainly has to walk a tight rope and mohamed morsi, the egyptian president is learning how quickly how difficult it is to be the president of egypt.

here is why the situation is packed with so much drama and intrigue. for more than 30 years, mohamed morsi, a member of the muslim brotherhood and the movement were on the outside looking in when it came to this israeli/palestinian conflict. they didn't have much of a role under the mubarak regime. then came the revolution, in came the muslim brotherhood, very influential in this current government, with the promise that they're going to change things, that they're no longer going to tolerate and put up with israeli aggression and oppression of the palestinians, and this is the promise that they have made so far. they have delivered a lot of rhetoric, condenecticudemnation seems like that's all they're doing at this point. they haven't taken any steps that could be viewed as aggressive and extreme, that comes as a relief to the u.s. and israel, but certainly a lot of people are going to be watching egypt to see what they do in the coming days and weeks. >> would their involvement

escalate the situation? >> reporter: at this point it doesn't look like it is escalating the situation. it looks like they're making a number of diplomatic moves, to make an effort to show the world they want to be an effective peacemaker, but this example, the diplomatic move to gaza today, the delegation, that failed. the escalation or the violence continued, so at this point it looks like they want to play the role of the peacemaker, they haven't escalated matters and, again, it is a relief to the israeli government and the u.s. government. >> reza sayah reporting. thank you, reza. a train slammed into a parade float full of wounded war veterans in texas. federal investigators were now on the case. n your moisturizer ? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less.

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in midland, texas, an investigation is under way after a train slammed into a parade truck carrying military veterans. four veterans were killed, 17 injured yesterday when the train crashed into the flatbed truck. it was filled with wounded veterans who were being honored for their service. jenny anderson from our affiliate kmid talked with witnesses about the horrifying scene. >> i just saw people under the

train. there was blood all over there. >> reporter: he said he saw the terrible train accident unfold right before their very eyes. >> i heard a big car crash, whatever. and i came over here to see, and there was a car accident. >> i heard the noise. i said it sounds like somebody got hit. >> reporter: darryl and brenda were four homes down from the train intersection and tell us this he were watching the veterans drive by in the hunt for heroes parade. >> we saw them go by. >> we waved at them. >> reporter: they could hear the horn of the approaching train, but didn't see the guardrail come down to block the intersection. >> i didn't see the guardrail down. >> reporter: as emergency groups rushed to help the victims, several witnesses ran to the wreckage and tried to help any way they could. >> pretty sad. >> it is very sad. i've said prayers for several people. >> you heard one witness say he didn't see the guardrail come down before the crash, but a spokesman for the railroad

company said the gate and the lights were working. officials are working to confirm that. diplomats say iran may be just months away from having everything it needs to develop a nuclear weapon. in a report reveals major concerns about what the iranians are doing underground in a bunker. that's next. humans -- even whes our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

let's go globe trekking. a u.n. watchdog says iran is not cooperating enough on its nuclear program. the agency says therefore it can't conclude that iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. matthew chance live in london. matthew, how exactly is iran defigd defying the nuclear inspectors? >> a couple of ways over the last several years. this is just the latest report, the last one this year, in fact, by the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog agency, the iaea into iran's nuclear activities this he criticize iran for its failure to answer questions about the alleged military dimensions of iran's nuclear program. they continue to criticize iran for failing to give it access to nuclear scientists, and to some

particular sites that the u.n. inspectors want to take a look at, to see what took place there. i think the issue that is of most concern, though, in this latest report according to u.s. and western diplomats i've spoken to is the fact that over the past three months or so, iran appears to have increased its capacity to enrich uranium, nuclear material needed to build a nuclear bomb, to the point where it effectively doubled its capacity in a secure underground bunker built inside a mountain to revent it from being hit by air strikes. that's something very worrying for diplomats and observers of the situation, of course it means if it chose to, iran could build enough material to build a bomb much quicker than it could previously, don. >> absolutely, matthew chance, thank you for that report. we appreciate it. just how bad was superstorm sandy? we have new video to show you from the moment the floodwaters spilled into a subway station. plus, it is the end of a snack food era. as i cry in my soup right now.

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look at this, incredible new video i want to show you, the moment sandy's floodwaters surged through a subway station. here it is. this is hoboken, new jersey. a hoboken, new jersey, station. we can see now just how quickly waters gushed through. ticket machines, garbage cans almost fully submerged in corrosive saltwater. that station and others are still out of action as pumping continues in subway tunnels in new york city and, of course, new jersey. it has been 18 days since that storm battered the east coast and thousands of homes are still without electricity. why did so many people lose power and what might be done to prevent that problem from happening again? cnn's tom foreman tells us in this week's "building up america." >> what do we want? >> power. >> when do we want it?

>> now. >> reporter: for all the angry people still without power after sandy, there may be few more frustrated than a man who lives hundreds of miles away. he's with the american society of civil engineers, his name is oto lynch and he's certain the storm's impact did not have to be so bad. >> the damage did not have to be this bad at all. with a little better planning, we could have certainly eliminated much of the damage. >> reporter: what he's talking about is the subject of some highly advanced research at georgia tech, a lowly but critical part of the electrical grid, the power pole. >> it is focused on trying to get a better understanding of the vulnerability of some of these wood poles as they're exposed to in this case extreme wind loads. >> reporter: specifically researchers are studying what makes a power pole break? its age, the stress from wind, water, ice or flying debris. combine all that with weather patterns and they are creating a comprehensive map of tens of millions of poles so utility companies can replace vulnerable

ones before big storms hit. >> it is important to identify which ones are the most compromised and how to direct those funds without wasting huge sums on unnecessary treatments and unnecessary replacements. >> reporter: others believe the national electrical safety code should be rewritten to require more robust poles, especially where powerful storms are likely. lynch insists that would cost less than $100 per pole, and he says if such measures had been put into place years before sandy came calling, he estimates power losses might have been half as bad. >> even if it is just 25%, that's 25% less people that didn't lose power. >> reporter: and in a tough economy, building up america begins with keeping the lights on. tom foreman, cnn, washington. hostess snack cakes now fortified with vitamins and

iron. >> speaking of america, an american classic, there it is, bad news for the lovers of the twinkie and other hostess goodies. the company is shutting down. find out what this means for the iconic brand and thousands of jobs as well. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase.

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shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck! priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service. oh, boy, nothing sweet about this one. hostess brands shutting down for good, after striking bakers refused to return to work. hostess makes a slew of treats that we all grew up with. >> hostess snack cakes, now fortified with body building vitamins and iron, like hostess hohos. >> snowballs, ding dongs, the chocolate cupcakes with the

squiggle on top and the what the heck is in it, the twinkie, of course. >> are you all right? >> what do they put in these things anyway? >> sugar enriched flour, partially hydrogenate d vegetabe oil. >> you don't want to know what's in them. just eat them. don't look at the label. the little twinkie history now from alison kosik. >> reporter: following a nasty labor dispute and almost a year in bankruptcy, hostess brands is closing its distribution centers and selling off its assets putting the future of twinkie in question. it has been a long road for the cream-filled pastry, now part of the american lexicon. >> it is twinkie. >> wow. >> the twinkie was born in 1930 in illinois, and inventor james duer was working for a way to use the continental baking

compa company's pans year round. during world war ii, banana rationing forced the company to change to vanilla cream filling. it was so popular, it never changed back. >> mm. >> reporter: over the years, the twinkie became part of the american popular culture. the howdy dooty show gave it an endorsement. >> what do we have? hostess twinkies. >> reporter: in the 1980s, the ghost butters movie used the twinkie to describe the level of ghostly activity in the new york area. >> that's a big twinkie. >> okay. obsession. >> reporter: in the 1990s, there was a presidential endorsement as president bill clinton included a twinkie in the millennium time capsule. in the youtube age, we have seen the twinkie put to the test, for shelf life, toughness and microwavability. >> that looks like a turd. >> reporter: but now the twinkie needs someone to come to its

rescue or we'll have to say good-bye to the twinkie for good. >> oh, boy. >> so sad. i need a tissue. >> i know. i know. i know. so, alison, nice job on that, i like the look back and the music. walk us through what is happening. a lot of people are out of work, we're la meanting about the twinkie being gone, but lite a f people are losing jobs. >> they're losing their jobs. hostess, you go on the website, look, we're closing our doors. what they're doing, they're asking for access to $75 million to go toward winding down the biz and that includes money to pay its employees it needs to liquidate. it is going to be keeping its doors open and a few employees on long enough to get the last remaining product out the door to the stores and, you know, though the fate of one of america's favorite snack foods is at risk, the brands, believe it or not, they could survive, the twinkie could come back, because you have to believe that some big foodmaker is going to swoop down and sort of be the

white knight and save the twinkie. it could happen. >> of course. a twinkie, like tang, coca-cola and cnn, iconic american brands. what about the dawn ets? that was one of my favorites, for the name. >> which one? >> the dawnets, part of the brand. >> oh, god, you know what -- >> send me some. google it. >> there was -- which one, i have somebody in my ear. >> dawnets. it is called the dawnets, no worries. >> i don't know that one. i know the hohos and the ding dongs. >> alison, always a pleasure. have a great weekend, my dear. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> sure. top of the hour, very serious news. i'm don lemon. brooke is off today. urgent situation. hamas aims rockets at jerusalem. they miss, but the fact that hamas is going after what israel considers its capital city shows how much pressure is building in the middle east now. listen.

an i reporter captured air raid sirens going off in jerusalem. rockets from hamas landed just south of jerusalem. more rockets aimed for tel aviv ended up in the water. no reports of damage in either case. but israel says since midnight, 66 rockets from gaza have blasted israeli land and three of their own have died from it. on the gaza side -- officials there say 27 palestinians have died since wednesday from israeli strikes. this is israeli defense forces video showing what they say are munition sites. look at this. israel points to the stockpiles as more proof that hamas is trying to escalate tensions. hamas says israel is to blame. people on poeboth sides share t fear of how close attacks will come. >> i feel my life is at risk by

being out in the streets. yesterday, when the escalation started by the assassination of -- i was out in the street. and i literally felt i could lose my life at any moment. targeting israeli civilians. i might as well -- >> he was able to reconnect with us moments later, though. other nations are scrambling to try to get israel and hamas to take a step back in this situation. egypt's prime minister and president arrived in gaza today, a planned cease-fire for the visit never materialized while mohamed morsi made it clear whose side egypt is on. >> translator: we support the people of gaza. we're with them in their trenches. what hurts them hurts us and the blood that flows from their children is our blood too. >> most of the west including

the united states sides with israel, but even in this country, opinion is divided. an i reporter recorded duelling proset protests last night. so israel says it is recruiting 16,000 reservists as fears of a ground war increase. we'll turn now to ben wedeman. ben what is happening there now? are you seeing the rockets and shelling going both ways? >> caller: don, actually, we have been here for an hour and a half and we heard a lot of distant thuds coming from gaza, those, however, appear to be israeli air strikes. the owner of this restaurant we're right next to said 2 1/2 hours ago they did hear some sirens going off to the north of here, but they didn't see any incoming rockets. and what is interesting, don, is right behind me is a sushi

restaurant that is operating. it is not full, but still people out. owner of this restaurant telling us that they really just have to get on with their life. he said that during the 2008, 2009 war between gaza and israel he stayed open the whole time. so certainly people here somewhat accustomed to all of this now. what we are hearing from the israeli media is that the security cabinet of prime minister benjamin netanyahu has authorized the israeli government to now call up as many as 75,000 reservists that certainly does point to the very definite possibility of an impending israeli ground incursion into gaza. >> those reservists, but just to be clear here, how close is israel, do you think, is moving to -- how close are they moving to moving troops on the ground, ben? >> reporter: certainly, they're stationing quite a lot of troops, quite a lot of armor around gaza.

it is very reminiscent of what we saw four years ago. the israeli ground incursion into gaza was preceded by a lot of air strikes hitting targets within gaza and then they went in. so we may simply see a repeat of that scenario that we saw four years ago. don? >> and moving the fighting from the air to the ground changes this crisis how? >> reporter: well, completely, because it is one thing when there are striking targets within gaza. it is another when they're sending in troops to fight in the streets. having spent a lot of time in gaza, i can tell you there is really nowhere to hide for people. the buildings are very flimsy, bullets go right through the cinder block that is used to make most of those buildings. and what we saw the last time around that there were a lot of civilian casualties when israeli forces finally did go into gaza. if you recall during that war, as many as 1,500 palestinians lost their lives in that

three-week war. don? >> ben wedeman, thank you very much. appreciate it. we are so lucky here at cnn to have someone like jim clancy who has been covering this, what, since the 1980s. >> early '80s. >> he's in the building with us. i thought it was interesting this morning you told me about israel's tactics, the tactics they used in the past. do you think they're viable now? >> they're not working. it is obvious they're not working. what we have here is a situation where there was sharon, lieberman and now netanyahu strategy. strategy was give the palestinians gaza. there is no water there. they get all their water from israel. salty in the summertime. hang on to the west bank. just move back the guard towers in gaza. and control that area. at the same time, take negotiations off the table and as we have seen during mr. netanyahu's stint as prime minister, don, zero negotiations, real negotiations. so this is a strategy, the missiles are proving it is not

going to work. they -- they can go in again. but it is not going to accomplish anything. it just puts us back there. this is cast led light if you will right now. >> putting the situation back to -- >> same place it was four years ago. >> let's get the back story on this region here. there are two areas of israel. we brought a map here to show us, under control of palestinian but not the same group. hamas is only in control of gaza. >> take a look. we get in here closer. the gaza strip, really tiny. there is no water there. all the water comes this way, the israelis tap it before it gets there. this is under the control of hamas now. it was palestinian controlled, but hamas rested that control away from fattah, that controls the west bank. surprisingly now, they have their own small jihadist groups inside gaza to find hamas' authority there. the west bank, mahmoud abbas, some hamas elements here as well, but this is where the fattah, stronghold, they're the ones that want -- the only way to push negotiations is if they

get elevated status at the u.n. that's why we saw mahmoud abbas in europe this week trying to persuade them to get support. everybody says it is through negotiations, but the palestinians say we're getting nowhere. they just announced another 1200 homes to be built in east jerusalem. >> we're looking at this, we're talking rockets going from here, right -- >> all the way to here. >> all the way to here. when we say it went to tel aviv but went in the water this is why, they're so close to -- >> these are not missiles. they're not firing it with any accuracy. they're rockets sent up in a grid. >> how far are we talking here? >> you're talking more than 40 kilometers. >> right. >> and they're aiming for -- to increase the range even more. they're getting this technology from the ukraine and russia, they have palestinians have studied at the universities there. they have taken the technology home. this is widespread grad rocket -- katyusha rocket technology. >> if this becomes a ground war, i asked ben the same question

this changes how? >> it changes in terms of civilian casualties, it is unavoidable if you put that much firepower in there. remember there is still the question here, post arab spring, everybody is looking to see mohamed morsi, turkey, these are muslim brotherhood, if you will, governments. they're looking for them, don, to in one way or another bring hamas under control, to calm us down. nobody wants a full blown conflict. fattah doesn't want it in the west bank. israelis don't want to see it. they're feeling more insecure than they have in years. they understand the current strategy won't hold in the future. >> this man knows his stuff. appreciate it, sir. developing now here in the u.s., two people are missing after an oil platform explodes in the gulf of mexico. the platform about 20 miles off the coast of grand isle, louisiana. it is not a drilling facility, 11 people sent to the hospital as crews launch a search and rescue mission. 28 gallon of fuel spilled

creating an oil sheen half a mile long. we're told it is not considered a major environmental threat. updates as we get them here on cnn. up next, david petraeus on the hot seat, testifying on the benghazi attack and it seemed to all come down to the distinction between classified and unclassified information. we'll break that down for you. plus, here we go. as the u.s. faces a so-called fiscal cliff, the nation's most powerful leaders sit down together. hear what happened behind closed doors. ♪

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had told us that this was a terrorist attack, terrorist-involved from the start. i told him my questions, i had a different recollection of that, the overwhelming amount of evidence is that it was it arose out of a spontaneous demonstration and was not a terrorist attack. >> so it was u.n. ambassador susan rice who initially said the attack was a spontaneous reaction to the anti-muslim film posted online. she was defended. today, by senator dianne feinstein. >> what susan rice, ambassador rice did, was use talking points, put out originally by the cia, signed off by the intelligence community, and those talking points, as i understand it, were requested by the house committee, and all the intelligence community signed off on it.

the key is that they were unclfrunclfr unclassified talking points at a very early stage. >> general mark kemet is in washington. thank you for joining us. the decision here seems to be between classified and unclassified information, talking points. what kind of information can be handed out early on? >> well, i think in any case what can be handed to the people speaking on your behalf are the best facts known at the time. and you rely on the spokesman to understand what can be released because it is unclassified, what can be spoken about because it is classified. >> are you buying this -- this is what could have been released this is the unclassified information that she was speaking to? does that argument hold water? >> i find it a little bit questionable, very simply because you don't take a piece of classified information and turn it 180 on its head.

you can't mention it was a terrorist attack, but you can pretend it was a nonterrorist attack. the fact is you should stand up there and say we can't give you the facts because they are classified and say no more. and you should say if you don't know, you should say, look, this is early in the process, we're developing the intelligence, we're developing the information and as soon as we understand and can release it to the public, we will. but this notion of getting ahead of yourself before the facts are known or potentially even worse giving a deception story to the american people rather than the truth, i find that, well, all i will say is what others should have said, which is i'll wait to find out what really happened here before i draw a judgment on that. >> so you think they should have just said exactly what they knew, under investigation right now, don't know exactly what went on, what went on, but as details come out, we'll release them to the american people? >> i think that the american people are -- would be very happy with that kind of explanation, and as the facts are known, as judgments are

made, as analysis is complete, why rush to get ahead of the facts. >> would you ever -- i'm trying to understand how the viewer would -- is thinking about this. in your job, or in other jobs like yours, and ambassador rice, did you ever -- can you talk about unclassified information or do you just go from the talking points that are given you by the administration? or by whom ever? and what process does that go through because the question is, what process did this information go through, these talking points and what was removed what was added, who saw that? who was in charge of that? >> well, at the end of the day if you're going to be doing a television show, if you're going to be giving a major speech, if you're doing the sundays, one would expect that initial talking points are given to you well ahead of time, so you can sit down and ask your people the questions. >> but i'm asking you who vets them. if there is classified

information that has to go through a process, who vets that information so that you can then go or someone like ambassador rice can then go on television and say, here's what i know? >> i don't know the exact procedures, what i would have expected to have seen happen in this case is that the director of national intelligence would be responsible for establishing the initial talking points that would be presented to the public. they would be vetted through the interagency process, state department, department of defense, to make sure that they had the best available information, and consistent with the security requirements. then once the interagency was satisfied with those talking points they hand them off to the spokesman and the spokesman would go through a process of asking questions about it, where do we get this information, what if i'm asked this question, what is the proper response? >> so there are many hands this goes through and not just the white house saying -- this goes through a process what many people are looking at? >> my personal experience is a

lot of people would look at some of the information that i would put out on the podium in baghdad, but at the end of the day, i had the ultimate responsibility to ask the questions because the questions were going to be asked of me. >> it is reflected of you. thank you, thank you very much, mark. general mark kimmet. we appreciate you. your paycheck and taxes depend on it, whether we go phiing over tphi i flying over the fiscal cliff. was it just all talk or are they closer to resolution? [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded theifference.

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to be the beginning of a fruitful process where we're able to come to an agreement that will reduce our deficit in a balanced way, that we will deal with some of the long-term impediments to growth and we're also going to be focusing on making sure that middle class families are able to get ahead. >> they have 46 days to cut a deal, just 46 days. remember the holidays are coming up. otherwise massive tax hikes and spending cuts kick in january 1st, no pressure there, huh? >> let's bring in brianna keilar. hello to you. what happened in today's meetings? any big action? >> no real big action. part of this, don, is sort of like show business. it is setting the scene for these negotiations that will take place here on the coming weeks and sounding a positive note and obviously setting the expectations pretty high that they are going to get something worked out so people shouldn't be too nervous. but make no mistake, there is a whole lot of work here that

needs to be done. it appears that this scene is kind of being set for these leaders to deal in the near term with the fiscal cliff. the spending cuts, those tax increases that are set to kick in at the new year, and then sort of set up a framework for the bigger issue of deficit reduction, including tax reform, perhaps entitlement reform, reform of medicare, medicaid, and deal with that in the coming year. that seems to be the idea. i will tell you today, i saw something i haven't really seen before, and that is the four leaders together in front of the microphones, talking very positively about working together. it is something you might only see on a day like 9/11, an anniversary like that. so this was very different. take a listen. >> we had a very constructive meeting with the president to talk about america's fiscal problem. >> we all know something has to be done. >> it was good. i feel confident that a solution may be in sight.

>> we're prepared to put revenue on the table, provided we fix the real problem. >> the problem as mitch mcconnell sees it is spending. that's on entitlements like medicare, obviously republicans would like to see more in the way of spending cuts, democrats are more to favor tax increases, the likely outcome of all of this is going to be a little bit of each, but the white house acknowledging jay carney, the white house press secretary in a statement, don, there are differences, but they can work through them and the real question i think now is how close are they going to cut it? are they going to take it to the very edge. we heard from harry reid, he said they won't wait until the last day of september, and house minority leader nancy pelosi said the goal is to get it done before christmas. we should be so lucky. >> we should be so lucky. holidays are coming up. it is a beautiful back grdrop b you look a little chilly. >> it is a little cold. >> brianna keilar, thank you. what do fiscal cliff talks

mean for your money? for your 401(k)? wall street investors might get nervous if talks aren't wrapped up quickly. i want to bring in time magazine's assistant managing editor, rana faruhar. you say some key people are worried next about what is coming up with stocks and bonds, why is that? >> a lot of the top investors in country see that the market has been down. there are major worries still about the fiscal cliff. i wish i could be as optimistic as some, but frankly i'm becoming a little bit worried. i think the issue of tax hikes for the rich in particular is going to be very politically contentious and there are worries we may not make that interviewer deadline and, in fact, if we go over it and stay over it for a few months, we could see the u.s. go back into recession. >> do you believe a fiscal cliff solution will be agreed on quickly? you said there is going to be some politization of this. but what is your recommendation

for spending cuts here? >> well, let me first say that i was more optimistic a few days ago in terms of getting it resolved bit end of the year. i'm thinking there is a chance we could go over the cliff for a couple of weeks. i think there is still a large ideological gap between -- >> hang on, hang on, hang on. you said you believe that we could still go over the cliff for a couple of weeks. what does that mean? >> i think that's possible. i think that what could happen is you could see a nod to what the agreement might be, but that we won't see the actual details emerge until we are at that point where we go over the cliff and then you might have a better bargaining position, you have to die to be reborn, if you will, so we can then talk about tax cuts for certain groups, for the middle class, for example, and talk about tax rates for the rich in a way that is difficult right now. i hope that's not the case. >> that's painful for the american people if that happes.s

>> it would certainly be a concern for the markets. the reports i see from wall street put that in. >> rana, thank you, have a great weekend. >> thank you you too. air strikes and rockets rain down on israel and gaza. egypt's prime minister tours gaza and rallies behind hamas as fears of a ground invasion in israel grow. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport. an entirely new pursuit.

rockets landed near israel's two most populous cities. some aimed at tel aviv, all missed. israel intensified its own bombing campaign on gaza. all this as egypt's prime minister toured a hospital in gaza. a cease-fire scheduled for his visit crumbled. egypt's role in this conflict

growing as many countries tout egypt as the potential peacemaker in all of this. straight to reza sayah in cairo for us. so today, reza, the egyptian leadership met with hamas. a group the u.s. classifies as a terrorist organization. should washington be concerned about egypt's role in this conflict? >> reporter: well, first off, we should point out that at this point it is not clear what egypt's role is in this conflict. it is not clear if what we're hearing is rhetoric or something behind the rhetoric. i think egypt's role will be clearer and clearer in the coming days and weeks. as far as the question whether washington should be worried, it depends how you process and digest all these developments. if someone sitting in washington and they buy into this very fiery rhetoric, sure, they could be concerned. rhetoric has been tough. rhetoric in tough condemnation

by mohamed morsi. if you look at what is happening beyond the rhetoric, you can say egypt has not taken any steps that can be viewed as extreme or radical, certainly haven't taken up arms against the israelis. doesn't look like they have given hamas material support. they have come out and explicitly said they're going to maintain the peace accord signed in 1979 between egypt and israel, all these, don, are indications that this government is taking a measured and diplomatic approach to maintain the alliances and that should come out as good news for the israeli government in washington. still too early in the process. we're going to have to wait and see how this unfolds. >> are protesters set to take to the streets of tahrir square today to condemn the israeli air strike? >> reporter: well, they certainly did. they come out. it is important to point out, the protests were relatively small. nowhere near the numbers we have seen in protests before and that could be because of the

aggressive diplomatic maneuvers made by the egyptian government to show that they want to play a central role when it comes to the conflict, the delegation went into gaza today, they loudly condemned the israeli government, they say they want to play the role of the peacemaker, but if you look at the trip, it could be viewed by many as ineffective. they went in there, wanted to choose a cease-fire, even if it was a short one, they failed. the violence continued. so that doesn't bode well for what egypt says it wants to do, says it wants to play the role of peacemaker. the violence continues at this hour, don. >> reza sayah, appreciate it, sir. troubling news from the u.n. nuclear watchdog. it concerns iran. we're going to look at what it is raising new concerns ahead. why it is raising new concerns ahead. [ female announcer ] today, jason is here

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standoff with iran over its nuclear program is intensifying. a new report just released a few hours ago by the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog is setting off alarms with little evidence that iran is backing down from its nuclear ambitions. straight now to cnn's matthew chance. matthew what did the u.n.'s nuclear watchdogs find. >> it criticized iran for continuing to fail to cooperate with u.n. inspectors in terms of

answering the questions about the alleged military dimensions of iran's very controversial nuclear program. there is still lots of nuclear scientists the u.n. wants to interview. there is still lots of sites that the inspectors want to inspect to see what activities have been taking place there and they have been essentially denied access to those locations. so the report on the one hand was very critical of that. it also sent alarming messages according to diplomats i spoke to who expressed this alarm and concern that iran has increased significantly its capacity to enrich uranium over the past three months, since the last report was set out. it doubled the number of centrifuges inside one nuclear facility, at a place called fordal, buried inside a mountain to protect it from air strikes. it doubled the ability of its scientists to enrich uranium. that means it will be able to produce nuclear material much

quicker than it could previously. that's something that is of great concern to countries like the united states that view iran's nuclear activities with very deep suspicion, don. >> absolutely. speaking of the united states, the u.s. president barack obama said this week that he believed there was a, quote, window of time to peacefully resolve this with iran. but what are the implications now, matthew? >> well, i mean, the implications are that if iran were to make use of its new increased capacity to make nuclear material for weapons, and it hasn't said that it will do this, it said quite the opposite, in fact, that would mean that we have an opportunity that president obama was talking about would get narrower. at the moment, though, i think it is important to point out that iran is still staying well clear of the sort of line in the sand, the red line, that it would cross to provoke any kind of military response. it still doesn't have the kind of nuclear material or indeed the other technologies necessary to build a nuclear weapon, at least not for some significant

time in the future, don. >> matthew chance, thank you, sir. as sandy ripped through the northeast, these were among the first images that gripped the nation. newborn babies being evacuated from a new york hospital. now cnn gets an exclusive access inside. a look at what these little patients escaped coming up. ates. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter.

so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke.

no doubt they were the pictures that captured the world's attention. sick babies taken from incubators, carried down flights of stairs, evacuated from the nyu lang medical center during hurricane sandy. now the cleanup is under way at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. elizabeth cohen takes us inside the hospital for an exclusive tour of the damage. >> reporter: after the rain

fell, and the river overflowed into nyu medical center this is what was left. a hospital ruined by more than 10 million gallons of floodwater, now two weeks later, richard cohen is my guide to see the damage. we're in the cellar right now. >> we're in the cellar, the lowest portion of the building. >> reporter: down here, the filthy river water went up to the ceiling. it has been pumped out, but still smells bad so we have to wear masks. >> this was an mri suite. four mris down here. unfortunately all flooded. >> oh, my god. how expensive is that machine? >> it is probably several million dollars. >> and caput. >> this is caput. >> reporter: the water continued rising up to the first floor. this lecture hall became a swimming pool. so if we were standing here while this place was filling up, the water would come up to our -- >> it would -- it would almost cover your head and come up to my neck. >> i would be underwater. >> almost.

>> reporter: ken langone was there as a patient. >> i was on the 11th floor. >> reporter: how did you get down? >> i walked. they said we're evacuating. i said, fine, i brushed my teeth, put my clothes on and said let's go. >> reporter: now this once busy emergency room is empty. >> this place took a hell of a hit. >> reporter: nyu langone brought in cleanup workers, some with special skills from around the country. hot air is drying out the ceilings, floors and walls. cleanup is 24/7, expected to cost around $700 million. people's lives were saved in this room. and now it sits idle. how does that feel to you? >> it feels like i can't wait for it to start saving lives again. >> interesting stuff. elizabeth is here now. they lost emergency power during

the storm. is a hospital doing anything to change as it rebuilds so that it doesn't happen again? >> right this is a hospital that sits almost on a river. it is so close to the east river. they're doing a couple of things differently. so, first of all, they had their generators on the roof. so when they lost backup power, the generators were not the issue, they were fine, they were on the roof. some of the circuitry you see here that distributes the power involved with the generators, those were in the basement. those got flooded. you're seeing flooded generators there. they're going to be moving those up so that hopefully this won't happen again, and then another thing, don, they have been talking about, even before sandy, they'll make their own little mini power supply station. they'll make their own power. they'll have con ed and then the backup generates and back up for the back up, their own power facility. >> we have to run, but hospitals are still closed. there are a number -- >> six in new york. six total. this is one of six. there is five others that have to do the same thing. >> and they are learning a

lesson and hopefully will improve. thank you very much. appreciate it. good reporting. you can find more on elizabeth's reporting at cnn.com/empoweredpatient. cnn.com/empoweredpatient. all week on cnn we have been putting veterans in focus. roman baca struggled to return to life after returning home. >> reporter: i'm roman baca, a u.s. marine iraq war veteran and i started dancing at a smaller studio and that led to transitioning to larger studios. make sure your fingers are articulating. as a typical american, i took a lot of things for granted.

i wanted to see if i could do something totally different than being an artist. i had something to prove to myself and i wanted to serve my country. so i joined the united states marine corps. 2005, we were called to deploy to fallujah iraq. we got back in '06. six months after my girlfriend sat me down and said, you're not okay. you're not the same person that i knew before the war. if you could really do anything in the world what would you do? and i had this interesting choreography, i would start a dance company. it wasn't a primary goal to talk about the military, but it just wasn't me not to put that part of myself into that work. and then she goes -- and you pull back. the whole tie-in is extremely important. and it is -- it allowed us to do community service outreach to

veterans. >> imagine all the sadness and the grief of the hero who isn't true. >> reporter: warrior writers is a group of military veterans that write about their experiences. >> you can't handle the truth. >> we brought together a couple of veterans. they were very skeptical at the beginning, as was i. in the end, they were so emphatic about giving their stuff and seeing how it came together in movement. >> your life after death and message lives on. >> i get up every morning and i, again, like when i was in the marine corps, know that i'm making a difference in somebody's life. >> nice job. yeah. >> i didn't go to iraq with 60 marines that wanted to go down and level a city. i went with 60 marines that wanted to improve a city. so why would it stop overseas? [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles

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they just can't afford. protesters you're looking at now began after friday prayers. demonstrators say they struggle enough with high unemployment and poverty. they believe the government under king abdullah is corrupt and has mishandled the country's money. i want to bring in cnn's executive editor mr. tim lister. let's go deeper into what provoked these latest protests. what happened? >> initially it was rises in the price of fuel and food. jordanians are poor. the average per capita income $6,500. they can't afford a 50% rise in the price of cooking oil and heating oil. they take to the streets. it's happened before. it happened this time. but it comes at the end of a sequence of events both political and economic that are really made jordanians suffer in the last 18 months. i was there last year, i was amazed by how people were ready to speak out against the monarchy for the first time. never happened before in jordan. >> interesting.

we've seen so much unrest in the middle east and north africa these days. why does jordan matter? >> jordan matters because it's in a rough neighborhood and one of the last arab states that's a reliable western ally. you've got syria to the north. there are already 200,000 syrian refugees on jordanian soil. you have saudi arabia, iraq, it's a difficult place to be in. >> that is a rough neighborhood. >> it is a rough neighborhood. the monarchy has always been pro-western, always been reliable and allowed u.s. and uk forces to stay there on various missions in the region. it's an important ally. >> you mention the monarchy, which is interesting. is it at risk? i mean, is there anything that the king can do? >> there's plenty the king can do. jordan has an intensely loyal and very efficient set of security services, the military, intelligence services, very loyal to the king. so it's not a sort of regime that would crumble overnight. what he has to do according to people i've spoken with in the last couple days is come up with

some grand political initiative that allows the opposition to say, yeah, you will take part in parliamentary elections. at the moment they're boycotting them. saying you're not giving enough power to constitutional government. you're keeping everything to yourself. he has to come up with a deal that satisfies the political opposition and find a way out of the economic crisis and get the sort of credit, the sort of aid that jordan really badly needs at the moment to recover from this really terrible economic crisis. >> so this is how i know tim lister's executive editor, if we want to know anything about anything that happens overseas, i say can i borrow your mind for a little bit? and you're here explaining to our viewers. which is great. >> glad to help. >> cheers. >> cheers to you. it's something most children can't imagine living, not in homes, but in prisons with their parents. that's a reality for more than 140 children in nepal. a top ten cnn hero works to save them from a life behind bars. she's going to join me next. s w. s w. but your erectile dysfunction

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their convicted parents. and now she is doing something about it. she's made it her life's mission to make sure no child grows up behind bars. she joins me now by phone from nepal. how are you doing? >> i'm good. how are you? >> i'm doing very well. again, thank you for joining us. you started your children's center back in 2005. tell us about it and how it helps these kids who are behind bars. >> now we have more than 140 children. we have 100 already gone back to their parents. we try to give them education like a normal child should have. a better life. children still live in the prison. children should not live in the prison with their parents. so i hope i am giving them a better life. definitely for children this life never come back. i want the best thing for them

to have. >> now that you've gotten this attention, you're on cnn all over the world talking about this, people are hearing about you, what would you like to do with this experience and the momentum for the future of your organization? >> now like definitely changed my life and changed even my childrens life. people used to call them. look at the children. now things have changed. now people have started to feel things have changed. lots of people -- lots of places, people just come to see our work and visit to do their education for us. >> yeah. and you do such great work. all of our cnn heroes. but this is really important. thank you. we wish you the best of